Blog: Feature Stories

We know some of you might love a pumpkin spice latte once October rolls around, but our farmers’ markets and grocery stores are stocked full of great fall produce that can give your run – and your health – a little more kick. (No offense, coffee.) If you want to boost your endurance and your immune system this season, consider some of these in-season fruits and veggies recommended by Dietitian Matt Dengler of RxRD Nutrition, and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. Enjoy!

An apple a day. That’s still solid advice.

If you haven’t been apple picking in western North Carolina, treat yourself to an afternoon of family fun with some delicious and healthy side benefits. (In most years there’s even an apple festival!) If rolling up US 321 isn’t in your schedule, you can find apples almost anywhere right now. They are accessible, fairly inexpensive, and there’s a variety of tastes and textures to suit most anyone. Seriously, apples go way beyond Red Delicious and Granny Smith.

“They are a good way to put carbs in your body,” says Dengler, noting apples are strong in flavonoids, phytochemicals, and antioxidants. (To keep the doctor away, of course.) Yes, apples can fight cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and an ingredient called quercetin helps you fight soreness by reducing lactic acid buildup. Fuel up 30-60 minutes ahead of your hour-long workout, or afterwards. Apple sauce is a great go-to energy snack before exercise; an apple is best after. The fiber in a whole apple — skin and all – can upset some stomachs if eaten before a workout.

We got the beets.

Beets are one of the best ergogenic aids for endurance, says Dengler. That’s shorthand for a substance that enhances your physical performance, stamina, and recovery. Here’s how: Beets are filled with nitrates, which helps more blood, and therefore oxygen, flow to your muscles when you’re exercising and recovering.

“The more blood we can get to muscles, the more they can exert,” says Dengler. If beets aren’t on your usual dinner menu, be creative. They’ll still do their good work in a beet root salad, blended into a smoothie, roasted, or as a juice. Beet root powder is also a good add-in for your smoothies or sauces.

Not sure how to manage a handful of bulbous beets? You can forego the peeling and slicing, and the purple fingernails that come with task, by choosing golden beets, or picking up pre-cooked beets available in most refrigerated produce sections.

Broccoli … and bona fide substitute.

This one may or may not be seasonal, depending on whose list you read, but broccoli is readily available in the fall. It’s full of antioxidants, vitamin C, vitamin K, quercetin, and folate. Vitamin C and quercetin help prevent sore muscles after intense workouts, while K and calcium strengthen our bones.

If broccoli isn’t your thing, kale is a close cousin. Kale can help reduce inflammation because it’s loaded with antioxidants like beta carotene, says Dengler. Kale also packs a punch with high amounts of vitamins and minerals like vitamin K. One serving of kale delivers around 700% of your daily recommended intake of K! Kale also contains calcium, which, along with vitamin K, is crucial for bone development. It also has 200% of your daily recommended intake of vitamin C in just one serving. You can sneak some kale into your next smoothie, salad, or even a roasted veggie tray.

Potatoes. More than just a starchy side.

The humble potato in its many varieties is a quick-energy superfood to keep in your cupboard or on your plate for several meals a week. “Red, russet, purple, or sweet, you can’t go wrong with a potato,” says Dengler. They’re full of vitamins and minerals like vitamin C, B6 for energy, and three times as much potassium as a banana. They also have a lot of antioxidants, even if you don’t eat the skin.

Potatoes have a high glycemic index, which means the carbs get into your bloodstream faster and can be used for energy quickly. If you want to slow it down a little and make that energy sustain itself for longer distances, add some fat and protein like a little butter, sour cream, bacon, chili, etc. But go easy, of course. And sweet potatoes don’t have to be “sweet” with brown sugar or marshmallow toppings. Cumin and a pinch of salt will change your mind about how to serve this quintessential fall staple in NC. Heck, it’s the state’s official vegetable, with more than 40% of the nation’s supply grown right here.

Decorative and delicious.

You’re not out of your gourd to want to eat your squash instead of just decorating with it. Butternut, spaghetti, and pumpkin all make great dishes when you cook them fresh and serve them up with a little butter and brown sugar or cinnamon. They’re full of vitamin A and keratin, too, which are great cancer fighters. They are high in vitamin B and C, hold more potassium per serving than a banana, and have lots of fiber to help you feel fuller, longer.

“B vitamins help the creation of energy,” says Dengler. “It’s going to form that ATP, and that’s going to sustain energy.” Too tired after a good workout to think about baking one from scratch? Don’t be. They are some of the easiest foods to cook. Slice, sprinkle with butter or olive oil and salt, and bake for 45 minutes. Or poke holes in them and throw them in the microwave for 10 minutes (you may need to roll it over and add time). How easy is that? And that spaghetti squash is worth a try in place of pasta, with sauce or in a lasagna.

Enjoy some recipes from great NC-grown foods, but do it soon – winter is coming!

We know none of us are getting any younger, but did our muscles always ache this much? Maybe not, says fitness coach Jamey Yon. But it’s completely normal to feel this way.

“As you age, your bones, ligaments, and muscles aren’t as resilient as they used to be, so you can hurt yourself doing normal stuff,” says Yon. But that’s not a good reason to stop – in fact, it’s your best reason to keep moving! “The benefits of staying active as you age are being able to continue your normal activities that you’re used to.”

Yon points to the old adage that you can get 30 good years of running out of your knees and legs. If you start when you’re younger, take it easy and take care of yourself. The older you are when you start, says Yon, the longer you can run as you age – if you do it right.

First, says Yon, do some strength training.

“Running is a contact sport because your legs impact the asphalt every time you hit the pavement,” says Yon. “Strength training strengthens the muscles, ligaments, and tendons around your lower body and makes you more resilient.” You don’t need a weight room – walking lunges, pushups, planks, and deep squats are a great start.

Next, don’t head out the door for that same routine you used to do in your 20’s if you’ve taken a few years (or more than a few years) off. It takes years of experience to build up to a distance race. Consistency over time is what builds fitness and lifelong PR’s, says Yon. Your body will adapt, and you’ll get faster as you get fitter, so don’t jackrabbit out the door at top speed on your first run.

“Knowing when to rest, and having the guts and strength to sit out a day when you feel those strange aches and pains, is key,” says Yon. Don’t force yourself to run when you feel hurt, either – you could set yourself back 6-8 weeks, and then you’ll practically have to start over. Those days might be a good time to do low-impact strength training.

Third – and stop me if you’ve heard this one – fuel your body properly. Yes, that changes as you age, too, so that means you’re selecting the right nutrients, electrolytes, and hydration for the body you now have, instead of the one you used to have.

“It becomes way more of a balance as you age,” says Yon. “In your 50’s, it’s about selecting foods that are right for you. Little mistakes are amplified at this age.”

Judy Caswell is living proof you can get better with age. At 61, she’s a cancer survivor who is still doing personal bests, even though she really didn’t start running as a sport until her 40’s. She always enjoyed team sports, but running was her “backup workout.” Once she found a regular running group, though, she started running more regularly and improving. She knew she had really hit her stride when she started training and racing her high school and college-aged sons — and winning.

But more than just fitness, running became her lifeline in her 50’s after she was diagnosed with rectal cancer. It was a shock, considering the shape she was in. Even after two surgeries, and months of chemotherapy and radiation, she made sure she got out the door to walk when she couldn’t run, and run when she could.

“Running was great because I could do it when I needed to, and it made me feel normal,” says Caswell. One of running’s greatest benefits, she says, was that she could do it any time, making it less likely she’d skip a day. The flexibility became running’s greatest asset. She also learned to listen to her body, so she’d know when to rest. This year, she completed her 62^nd race, and did a personal best time! She’s such an advocate for lifelong running, she is one of this year’s Novant Health Charlotte Marathon Ambassadors.

She gave her 6 tips for being a lifelong runner who feels and runs their best at any age:

1. Keep moving. If you take time off, you’ll feel stiffer. If you can’t run, just walk; but make sure you move every day.
2. Really listen to your body. Some days you’ll feel great and go far, other days you’ll run just a few slow miles. That’s okay.
3. Learn things. If something feels funny, look at your form. If one thing hurts, you can concentrate on training other parts of your body as you fix what hurts.
4. Do other things. Use other muscles, add weights, do your stretching, work your upper body work to maintain balance. Try trail running and hiking, even yoga or meditation to mix it up and work your whole body.
5. Watch what you eat. (Here it is again!) Your body fuels differently as you age. Eat to fix your shortcomings like iron-poor blood or lack of energy.
6. Give yourself grace. Adjust as necessary, walk if you need to.

Yon acknowledges none of us are getting younger, but adds we can definitely slow down the clock by staying in better shape. It takes work, but the best may be yet to come – especially for “late bloomers.”

“If you never peaked, you can still run a longer, faster PR,” says Yon. Set new goals for your age group, instead of competing with your younger self if you were a runner in your youth. But for sure: “You should just keep going.”

They’re words Judy Caswell lives by.

“I’m not comparing myself anymore,” she says. “I feel better than I ever have in my life.”

We get it. The weather breaks, we throw open the windows, get some fresh air, and tie our shoes a little tighter for a good, long run. Ahhhhhhh….. CHOO! Yes, it is one of Mother Nature’s cruel ironies that perfect outdoor weather brings the allergies that make us want to stay indoors.

And on top of that, we’re jogging into cold and flu season, with the specter of COVID-19 making us question every sniffle, sneeze, and daily bout of exhaustion. How do we stay sane and healthy with so many potential problems in the air? Know the difference, says Novant Health Pediatric Allergy & Immunology specialist Dr. Puja Rajani.

“With allergies, a runny nose is a big component, and usually watery eyes and itchy. Itchiness in general is an indicator that it’s allergy-related,” says Dr. Rajani. That’s because histamines, your body’s inflammatory response to allergens, cause itching (hence, treatment with anti-histamines).

“With viruses, one thing, for sure, is fever,” says Dr. Rajani. You won’t get a fever with allergies. Also, your cough will feel more like a tickle in the throat with allergies, versus something deeper with viruses. And phlegm? It’s thick and virulent with a virus, whereas with allergies, it’s mostly watery and clear.

Dr. Rajani also notes fatigue can be an indicator. While allergies may make you slightly more tired after a run, the fatigue brought on by coronavirus is sudden and extreme. If you show these symptoms and others common to COVID-19, or have been exposed to someone who tested positive, go ahead and get tested. But if it’s just allergies, there are things you can do to alleviate symptoms and get the healthy workout you need — even outdoors.

“I like local treatments for both mild to moderate allergies,” says Dr. Rajani. Nose sprays, like Flonase or Nasacort, are “local” because they’re applied directly to nose tissue. “The concept of nose spray is to locally treat where they inflammation is beginning — it’s like cream for the inside of the nose.” She notes that it can take a couple of weeks to yield the best results, so you can plan your runs accordingly.

What about allergy pills? Will they make your workout sluggish — or the opposite, make you hyper? Dr. Rajani says that depends on the chemical make-up. For instance, Allegra (Fexofenadine HCl) doesn’t cross the blood-brain barrier, but Claritin (Loratadine) and Zyrtec (Cetirizine) have been shown to cause drowsiness in 10-15% of patients, says Dr. Rajani.

For non-pill relief, turmeric is considered a holistic, food-based choice to lessen symptoms for the long term because of its anti-inflammatory properties. A neti pot or nasal rinse can also relieve symptoms temporarily without side effects, but aren’t a long-term solution.

And since every athlete is different, learn what works best for you — and don’t try something new the night before or morning of the race!

If your allergies go beyond the mild and quickly treatable, you may consider immunotherapy — in other words, allergy shots.

“That’s the only way we have that doesn’t just put a band-aid on symptoms, it actually treats the underlying cause,” says Dr. Rajani. “We teach the immune system that it doesn’t need to be reactive.” Allergy shots teach the body to get used to allergens slowly, to build up a resistance. If severe allergies keep you from doing what you want, or induce asthma, shots might be a good option.

“There’s no way to predict how allergies will change as we get older,” says Dr. Rajani. Age, lifestyle, and risk factors can be elements, so when the usual meds don’t work for you, you may want to be evaluated.

And last but not least, consider your environment.

“When you come back from a run, shower!” suggests Dr. Rajani. And change your pillow covers often so allergens don’t collect there. “It really affects the eyes and nose, because you’re potentially sleeping in things you’re allergic to.”

Your clothes, hair, and pets can also bring allergens into your home, and, get this — they can still affect you if you wear a mask.

“One of the biggest contributors to allergies is small particle size… and you can still be affected despite the mask,” Dr. Rajani reminds us. “It’s really hard to hide from pollen.”

But wait! Masks can be somewhat effective with bigger pollens — various trees and grasses that coat your car, and cat dander, says Dr. Rajani — but they won’t make your symptoms completely go away. So while owning a dog as a kid can help prevent asthma (no kidding!), Spot and Fluffy bring a double-doozy with dander and allergens on their coats. Wash them and love them, and that may help just like your own shower does.

And besides, a dog can be a great reminder to go for your daily walk or run. So figure out your best option — even a dog! — and enjoy the fall outdoors.